Broadsheet

Why Brad? Because he is simultaneously reifying and challenging hegemonic codes of race, class, gender and regional or national identity. As one of this generation's most popular actors, Pitt has explored many of the cultural and marital tensions of our emerging postmodern era. Depicting masculine American whiteness in various states of crisis and various hair colors, his characters enact complex postmodern agencies; they are never wholly coherent, they are often self-destructive, and they rely on a certain amount of play -- between stability and instability, between life and death, between autonomy and alter-dependency, between control and abandon, between Maddox and Zahara. His characters explore the complex and changing postmodern cultural landscape. Tracing Brad's work and personal life through a variety of theoretical texts and celebrity-interest publications, we hope to explain his multidimensional postmodernity and raise essential questions, especially given recent events, about whether or not he is God's gift to women.

Which brings us to your inevitable question: What about men? Where do they fit in here? Bradsheet believes that any discussion of "Brad issues" must include men -- hey, they still hold most of the power in the world, and, well, almost all of us live with them, work with them, love them even if they're not Brad. So expect plenty of editorial input from our male colleagues, especially Farhad Manjoo, who has been one of the biggest boosters of Bradsheet since the beginning. Men are crucial to any discussion and we want to bring them into the conversations we'll be having every day. And if Salon's history of spirited debate between readers and editors is any indication, we're sure you guys will show up in our comments area too and tell us what you think.

Welcome, everyone, to this new corner of Salon.

Thanks to Gawker for this tip on how Brad and Angelina's baby-to-be is already helping the impoverished, even before the child has left the womb. Here's hoping the little nipper will grow up to be as committed to ending suffering around the world as Mom -- and yes, now that Angelina's with Brad -- Dad, too.

Wednesday's New York Daily News Rush and Molloy column carried a story about Brad that gave me pause. The column repeats a Star magazine story about "a bit of a blowout" between Brad and Angelina about whether or not to get hitched. Reportedly, the fight ended with Angelina storming out of their Paris pad, Maddox and Zahara in tow. This tale echoes a narrative that has been batted around in the tabloids for months, but seems to be gaining credibility with every weekend that we're told Brad and Angelina plan to marry at George Clooney's Lake Como estate -- and then don't! It seems that Brad is pushing for marriage before the birth of their child, while Angelina is resisting. According to the latest French source, "Brad says it's like he can do nothing right these days ... They argue about everything, from his cigarette smoking to world politics to how much he loves her! And apparently Angelina has told him she prefers the way he was when they first met -- independent and masculine -- and that she's getting tired of his whining and possessiveness."

Hmm. What to make of this news? On the one hand, I guess it's good to know that Brad isn't trying to evade commitment to his hard-ass girlfriend -- that in fact he feels perfectly comfortable pursuing her. And what's with her boiled-down conflation of independence and masculinity?

But, buddy, if she's not into it, she's not into it! It's discomfiting to think of Brad being so attached to hetero norms that he's pushing for marriage when Angelina -- a single mom long before he arrived on the scene -- seems comfortable with her own autonomy.

The whole thing is mind-boggling, no question. But really, would we expect anything less from Brad, the man who can leave us cold by ditching Wife No. 1 for failure to reproduce, but who first delighted us in Bradsheet ur-text "Thelma & Louise?"

This week's Star magazine, in its ongoing and in-depth coverage of Brad's forthcoming offspring, turns this week to Angelina's hobby of flying her Cirrus two-seater, which she's continued to do well into the seventh month of her pregnancy. The Star piece poses the following question: "IS SHE CRAZY?" The consensus among doctors, psychologists and "sources" consulted for the article: pretty much. They warn of risks such as blood clots, diminished oxygen, premature labor and worried boyfriend. Brad, that is, reportedly also wishes that she'd slow down and keep her feet on the ground. "He's paying really close attention to her health," said a friend. Of course he is; he's Brad. And yet we wonder: Shouldn't we trust a mom-to-be with such decisions? Is the press just doing that thing where they love, then criticize, then love, then criticize pregnant women? What do Bradsheet readers think?

No discussion of Brad issues is complete without this comprehensive hair-ography from emerging gossip site TMZ. Titled "How Brad Morphs Into His Lovers," the TMZ piece chronicles Brad's style transformations from Juliette Lewis-era serial-killer chic into the Gwyneth period, when he and G actually got the exact same haircut. From there, we mosey through the Jennifer Aniston golden-highlights years, and finally we come to the current era of Angelina-inspired neutral tones, motorcycle jackets and dark locks. This spectrum of aesthetic choices has much to teach us about Brad's very essence, TMZ notes. The site quotes psychotherapist Candice Slobin saying, "There's some essential element of his own self-identity that may be missing. He's absorbing something into his own identity that has not developed on its own."

While some "transformations" seem a little overhyped -- sure, it's hokey to dress in complementary, Will-and-Jada-style outfits for a red carpet appearance, but that doesn't necessarily equate to morphing into one's lover -- at the end of the accompanying slide show I had to concede that, at the very least, Brad has spent an unseemly amount of time with his colorist. And, OK, his style pendulum does seem to swing according to his dates' dress choices.

But why does that automatically signal a Brad-dentity crisis? Actors are accustomed to changing costumes for their parts, but we don't consequently assume they all have issues. (We only think most of them have issues!) Maybe Brad's chameleon tendencies indicate that each of these relationships was always going to be temporary -- he was just trying them on, as it were.

Better still, maybe this trend simply indicates that Brad is able to accept a dominant woman. He can take her lead sartorially, and he's man enough to get in touch with his feminine side via some lemony highlights. Why is that such a problem? If a woman swaps her business suit for a cocktail dress in order to attend her husband's office Christmas party, people don't suggest that her "self-identity" is missing. And in an industry where couples are famed for divorcing as soon as the woman's success outstrips the man's (you hang in there, Reese Witherspoon!!), isn't it refreshing to see a man who's unafraid of female power?

In conclusion: You go, Brad. Bradsheet loves a man who's not afraid to say, "Yes, ma'am."

Leave it to Brad to (inadvertently) kick off Round 3 of the Katie Couric-Diane Sawyer morning mud wrestle! As Lloyd Grove reported on March 21, ex-Mrs. Jennifer Aniston has decided to promote her upcoming Nicole Holofcener movie "Friends With Money" (a big woo-hoo for Nicole Holofcener, incidentally, one of Bradsheet's favorite auteurs!) on the "Today" show with Katie Couric. Reportedly, Aniston's preference in hosts has to do with Sawyer's prime-time Brad-in-Africa "puff piece" during his promotion of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith." Someone from Sawyer's camp denied to Grove that Aniston's call was the result of any kind of Brad hangover.

Uh-huh.